His Moment
by Ilovedesserts
Summary: Wes Nolan is new to the division and has some ideas of what he wants for his life...
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this story is at the request of several lovely ladies who wanted to see a Wes Nolan story where he is in pursuit of a particular police captain. I'm not sure how I feel yet about the story, but here's what I have come up with so far. I don't think this will be terribly long, but this takes place during the Season 5 arc when Nolan comes into the picture. I hope this doesn't disappoint...**

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"What's the story with the captain?" he asked as he looked around seeing that Julio and Amy were the only ones left for the evening. He'd just watched as Captain Raydor left for the evening with Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza right behind her. He got it; the captain and her top two trusted lieutenants were close.

"Sorry, what's that?" Julio asked, looking up from his desk.

"Ahh, just wondering what's the deal with the captain? I've never worked for her. Last I heard, well that would have been before I was undercover, word was she is a pretty tough one. None of my buddies were fans of hers, but that was also when she was head of FID," he added.

Julio nodded, listening to Wes, and simply said, "She's good-at everything. Do your job, don't screw up, and you'll be fine. I've known her well now for eight years or so, worked for her the last five. She has high standards, but live up to them, and you're fine. For you, just do your job in this case."

"For me," Amy started, turning to Wes, "I see her tough exterior. It's the whole being a woman in a man's world thing she has going on. She's a tough lady, but she's also a kind person. She's a good mom, and we get to see that."

"Oh, she has kids?" he asked.

"Grown ones," Julio jumped in. "Still, we get to see that some."

"Cool," Wes nodded. "Thanks for the background. I'll see all of you tomorrow," he nodded and left the room.

By the next morning, he'd gotten a bit more information on his new boss, well his temporary one. He didn't have much else going on right now; here he was fresh from a five-year undercover assignment. It wasn't like he had a lot of friends in LA, and he didn't have a place to live. The hotel he'd found had been fine, but he'd gotten bored right away. So, he'd done some shopping. One thing about living undercover, laying low, over the years-he had plenty of money to spend. So, he'd bought a new laptop, and he'd spent most of his evening in his hotel room researching his new boss. He wasn't stalking her, but he was intrigued by her and wanted to know more about her. He hadn't gotten much past a few basic online searches, enough to know Captain Raydor, Sharon, was divorced and most definitely a woman who held her own in the police force. She was tough, independent, and assertive, all things he liked, very much.

As his workday went on and he found himself working more and more with her, he got more and more excited at the idea of being done with the undercover stuff. Two days ago, when it was suggested he not continue undercover, but help the team instead, he'd balked at the idea. He didn't mind going back to jail for the night to mess up a guy for his information, but he hated the idea of ending his assignment. Now, that idea didn't seem so bad because it was allowing him to work with the captain, and that was something that put a positive spin on the situation.

As much as he enjoyed seeing her in action, he longed to get a moment to work with her one on one. She seemed awfully attached to her lieutenants; they rarely left her side. He was going to have to get used to that again, working with a team. He also knew the three of them, especially, had worked together for years. At every glance, if she wasn't with one of the lieutenants, she was with the other one. They even all seemed to disappear to lunch together, but he wasn't sure if they actually all had lunch together or just took lunch at the same time. She was stressed; this case was a mess, and he wished he could be the one to talk her through everything.

He liked the team, so when Chief Howard suggested he stay on with Major Crimes for the foreseeable future, he smiled at the thought. It would give him more time to get to know her, to see her in action. Any pursuit of her he had planned, it had to be well executed, thought out, and planned to the finest detail. He could tell she was special, and she deserved that much. He only hoped she would give him a chance. Yes, he was younger, but it didn't bother him; he hoped it wouldn't bother her. Yes, he'd had a rough few years, but the grumblings he'd heard about her ex and what he'd read, she'd had some hard times too. He was hoping she wouldn't be put off by his being one of her detectives. He already had an idea for that. If it was an issue, dating a subordinate, he'd ask for a transfer. Simple. Now, he just had to plan his approach, and a slow approach it would be. Hopefully, he'd woo her enough that by the time he was ready to ask her out, she wouldn't be able to imagine life without him.

He saw her compassionate side at the end of the case, saw the reason the team protected her so much. The team was very tight lipped about her; he'd noted that right away. Not much was said about their captain, and he saw that they cared for her, protected her, with their lives. Her compassionate side came out when Lieutenant Flynn, Andy, as several kept calling him, collapsed, and he had to admit, he'd never seen a boss that worried about someone. He couldn't believe when she insisted on riding in the ambulance with him-what a boss. He'd been busy throughout the whole heart attack getting the paramedics from the elevator and bringing them to the office. He had briefly noticed she was on the floor next to him, but so were many of the others. Yes, he could see-she cared about those around her very much.

In a whirlwind of events, he found himself among the team at the hospital just a bit later. He didn't know Lieutenant Flynn well, but apparently, the guy was well liked. He'd almost hit him the other day, all part of his undercover bit, and so the two had met each other, but he hadn't had much more of an interaction with him. He'd noticed that anytime he had to also deal with the captain over the last few days, the lieutenant was around. Looking around, he could see everyone was worried, and again, it impressed him the level of commitment to one of her own the captain displayed. The captain wasn't in the room right now; she had decided to stay back with the lieutenant until they had some news.

He looked up at the commotion and saw two people running to the team, and with their frantic looks, he figured they must be the lieutenant's kids. He knew the lieutenant had kids, and it didn't surprise him when Lieutenant Provenza stood to talk to them, a guy and a girl, but the two didn't look anything alike. The guy, he thought he'd seen in the building this week, blonde hair and the girl, he was sure he hadn't seen, but she had a look to her that he could see the lieutenant in her face. Lieutenant Provenza continued to speak to them, and then he took them to the nurse's station, and soon, the two kids disappeared to the back as well. Yup, the lieutenant's kids, he nodded to himself.

It was a couple hours later when the captain emerged, this time with both lieutenant's kids. Man, she was caring; she'd stayed back there to console the lieutenant's kids because they had no one else. The three were talking, and the team stood to get the report. Heart attack as they expected, and he'd be in the hospital awhile. The captain moved off with the kids and Lieutenant Provenza, probably giving the lieutenant's best friend the update she'd gotten and making plans for work, and soon, Lieutenant Provenza came back, waving to the group, "Go home. Flynn will still be here tomorrow. In no time, he'll be back at work, irritating us all to no end!"

Wes saw this as his moment; he had a police vehicle checked out, and he knew the captain had come via ambulance. He made his way to her, "Captain, can I offer you a ride home?" he asked, and she turned from the lieutenant's kids to him.

"No thank you, detective. I do appreciate it," she nodded to him. The kids offered a small smile.

He looked to them and said, "Sorry to hear about the lieutenant," and nodded to them as he turned back to say, "Captain, at work with him out, if you need anything from me, don't hesitate to ask."

She nodded and offered a slight smile to him before he turned to leave. He'd spoken to her-progress, and yeah, he had to admit this wasn't the time to hit on his boss. He'd work on things, chip away, slowly and steadily. With one lieutenant now out of the office, and Lieutenant Provenza, he assumed, wanting to help his friend, Wes saw this as his opportunity to become the captain's right hand man. Patience, he told himself-have patience, and hopefully, that would pay off.


	2. Chapter 2

He noticed the office was quiet, somber the next morning when he arrived for work. It was also half full; Lieutenant Flynn, obviously wasn't there, but he noticed that neither the captain nor Lieutenant Provenza were there either.

"Morning," they said back to him as he settled in at his desk. "Any update on the lieutenant?"

"He had a lot of tests run, and he's still in the hospital," Mike offered. "Doing okay so far, you know, all things considered."

"Hey guys," Wes heard and looked up to see the blonde-haired guy walking briskly though the office. It appeared he was there often enough, as the rest of the team wasn't bothered he was there at all.

"Rusty, how's everything going?" Julio asked, and Wes turned. He'd learned the kid, whom he had seen yesterday, was named Rusty.

"Okay," he sighed. "I came for all the stuff that was left behind," he nodded toward the desks, and the rest of the team nodded. Wes watched as Rusty walked over and opened Lieutenant Flynn's desk with the key he had suddenly produced and got the lieutenant's wallet out. He then unlocked the captain's office and grabbed something out of her drawer, and as Wes watched, he noticed he'd grabbed the captain's purse. Ahh, yes, she'd ridden in the ambulance too and with things so chaotic, she hadn't gotten her own stuff. Rusty returned to the murder room.

"How's Andy?" Tao asked, looking to Rusty.

"Mad," he rolled his eyes, "You know how he is. He's yelled at everyone, well almost everyone," he grinned. "He wants to go home." Rusty turned toward Wes, their eyes finally meeting. Wes stood.

"Hey, I didn't get a chance to meet you yet-Detective Wes Nolan," he nodded. "I saw you at the hospital yesterday. It was pretty crazy, though."

He nodded, "Rusty-nice to meet you," as he gripped the wallet and purse in one hand. "Oh, hey-" he pointed to Wes, "you're the guy who tried to punch-"

Wes interrupted him, "Yeah, I almost took out the lieutenant the other day," he let out a small laugh. "Sorry about that."

Rusty waved him off, "That didn't cause his heart attack. Yeah, he was complaining about shoulder pain at home the last couple nights, assuming it was from that. He didn't even realize it was due to this heart attack that was coming on. Well, nice to meet you, but I need to get to the hospital."

"Rusty, keep us posted," Julio nodded, and Rusty nodded back to him.

"Anyone heard directly from the captain?" Wes heard the question asked and looked up to see Buzz with a questioning look.

"She sent me a text, obviously telling me I was in charge until she or Provenza came in. She was not sure if she'd be in today or tomorrow. Provenza is due in later this morning. Both are at the hospital," Mike explained.

Wes nodded to himself, thinking what a close team he was now part of, and it made him grin. He was going to do something nice for the captain; she deserved it after looking after one of her own like she had. He decided then and there that all the junk he'd heard about her over the years was wrong. She might appear tough, but that was her being good at her job. Seeing her in action with her team, he decided she must just be that dedicated to taking care of those around her.

By mid-afternoon, Wes had made a plan to stop by with dinner for the captain. He'd heard she had stopped back at the hospital after popping into work to meet with Chief Howard earlier. He knew she had to be hungry with the day she'd had-worried about one of her detectives and still trying to balance work. So, later that evening, he stopped by the hospital to find the captain, lieutenant, and Rusty in the room together.

"Knock, knock," he offered, as he entered tentatively. The trio looked up and with puzzled, but friendly expressions, gave a slight smile to him. "I thought you might be hungry," he offered, holding up bags of food. "I wasn't sure what you might like, so I went with soup and sandwiches. There's plenty; I didn't know who might be here."

"That's very kind of you," Sharon smiled to him. "Thank you very much," she said accepting the bag.

"I'll take some of that soup," Andy perked up. "That sounds divine."

"Andy, you know you can't eat that yet! They told you to stay away from salt right now, and as good as that soup is, there's plenty of salt in it," Sharon scolded him. Wes grinned at that; he'd remembered she was a mom, and she sounded like one talking to him. She was good with her detectives.

Rusty dug into the bag and looked to Wes, "Thanks. That's cool of you to bring this by," he held up the sandwich.

"Rusty," Andy nodded to him, "save one of those for me," he said in a loud whisper like the rest of the room couldn't hear. Rusty laughed, and he noticed the captain sighed.

"Do you need anything else? Captain, work was pretty quiet today," he offered, "but I heard you met with Chief Howard, so you probably knew that."

"Yes, thank you," she gave a slight smile. "I had heard that. I'll be in tomorrow morning and then in and out for awhile. Things are crazy."

"I'm happy to help, please," he offered. "I'll get going unless you need anything else?"

"No, but thank you again for the food. I'll see you tomorrow, detective," she nodded.

As he left the hospital, he started to think of ways to brighten the captain's day tomorrow. She looked tired and stressed, not that she looked bad at all by any means, but he could see it. He could do something to brighten her day-flowers, yes, he'd put flowers in her office. Surely, she'd like that, and it might make her smile. He was taking slow steps, little by little, to do things for her. He'd brought her dinner while she was worried about someone else, and tomorrow, he'd have flowers waiting for her to brighten her day. The sight of her smile would surely brighten his day.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank you for the flowers, everyone," Sharon leaned out of her office, smiling at the group.

"Captain, that was all Nolan," Julio nodded to him, "but we are glad to see you smile."

Sharon nodded to Wes, "That was very thoughtful. I appreciate the gesture."

"No problem, Captain," he nodded to her.

The team got back to work, and Julio spoke up, "Tao, is the lieutenant coming in today? I didn't want to ask the captain."

"No, he told me that he and the captain were going to alternate the hospital until Andy goes home," he relayed.

"When will that be?" Wes asked.

"Few more days," Mike explained. "Not soon enough if you ask Andy, I'm sure," he grinned. The team all chuckled.

"I'm really impressed how close you guys all are," Wes said to them. "It's cool to see."

"We have worked together a long time, a very long time," Buzz jumped in, "and all feel like family, some more than others," he grinned.

The day progressed, and things remained quiet for the team. Being down a couple of lieutenants or a lieutenant and captain, depending on the day, it was nice to have a little down time. As the day was winding down, Julio looked up, "Is she going to stay here and work late?"

"No idea," Amy nodded. "You know how she gets, but if I had to guess, yes."

"Maybe we should make sure she gets out, gets some dinner?" Wes suggested.

Buzz frowned, "Probably won't work. She's stubborn. We have watched this for a long time-she'll work herself into exhaustion if we let her."

"I'll go get her some; she can at least eat here," Wes stood, putting on his coat. "What does she like?"

"Salad, get her the Greek salad at the deli down the street. That's her favorite. Lieutenant Flynn and Buzz like the same thing," Amy offered. Buzz nodded.

"Yes, that's her favorite," Buzz agreed. "They have good food all around."

"On it," Wes said. "I'll be right back. I've got nothing else going on, so I'll make sure she eats before she goes home. I know all about long, lonely nights from working so long undercover. Still getting used to the real world now myself," he offered a shrug.

"She's the worst about working herself to death and not eating. Right now, one of us has to keep an eye on her," Mike said. "I don't know how she can do it-go so long without eating, but she does sometimes. Then, she'll get so exhausted, she about collapses. It's not good for her."

Wes returned 20 minutes later with her salad, dinner for himself, and dessert. He would have preferred to take her to dinner, but for now, it would suffice. He noted that as he returned, the couple team members who were left, stood to head out, nodding to him.

"Captain," he said as he knocked on her door, "I brought you dinner."

Sharon looked up from her paperwork, "Detective," she smiled at him, "that was very thoughtful and totally unnecessary. You seem to be very worried about my eating lately," she laughed. He could tell she was tired and looked stressed.

He shrugged, "I just know how important a good meal is," he offered the bag. "Come on, Captain. You need to eat, and help a guy out-I eat alone every night."

She offered a smile and extended her hand to the chairs, "Alright then, have a seat, please. I have to admit that I didn't eat breakfast, and I had a granola bar somewhere around the lunch hour." Wes sat and immediately opened the bags.

"I heard you like a Greek salad," he produced. "I also took a chance and got you dessert."

Her eyes grew wide, "Dessert, huh? Well, I don't indulge often, but I do enjoy dessert."

"Cheesecake?" he questioned, holding it up. "I took a chance."

"Good choice," she nodded. "I love cheesecake, but I rarely make it. My daughter loves it, but my boys, not so much," she frowned.

"Ahh, I heard you have kids. How many?" Wes asked.

"Three," she replied between bites, all grown, or so they say they are," she rolled her eyes. He chuckled.

"I'm sure to you, they will always be kids, no matter how old they get. Do they live locally?" he asked.

"My one son, yes," she smiled. "My other son and daughter, no, so it's not often I see them. I try to cherish each visit. Things like this with Andy remind me life can be so short," she sighed, as she shook her head. "Enough about me. So, tell me detective, are you enjoying it here so far? I'm sorry your first week has been this crazy. Hopefully, soon, things will calm down. We could all use some normalcy here, and hopefully Andy will be cleared to return to work, and the team can get back to some sort of routine," she explained.

He smiled between bites, "I'm enjoying the team very much. You are a close group, a lot like family. It's weird not being undercover, but I think this will be a good fit for me. I know I have a lot to learn, but I'm very glad to be given the opportunity here. Captain, I'm very impressed with your leadership."

Sharon raised her eyebrows at his compliment, "Well, thank you," she nodded to him. "A team likes this, though, runs itself. It's a fine-tuned machine, and I just make sure people-Provenza and Andy to be exact-don't get into trouble," she grinned. "We have all come a long way, and I'm glad to be here, part of this group."

"I have also heard that you can work yourself to death, Captain," he smiled. "Now, you should know that all work and no play-" he teased.

Sharon gave a soft smile, "I know. It's still hard, and right now," she shook her head, "right now, I need to work to focus."

Wes was about to give her another compliment when her phone rang, "I'm sorry," she said, gesturing to the phone. "This is my daughter, and she lives in New York. I need to take this."

Wes stood, nodding to her, "No problem, Captain. I guess I'll get going. I enjoyed dinner," he smiled to her. "Will you be okay here?"

"Fine," she smiled, answering the call. As he left, he heard her say, "Emily, honey, hi."

Wes left the building that night determined to do something more for the captain. He could feel she was stressed, being down detectives, and he would do what he could to make her life easier.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, here's the final chapter. I decided to put Wes out of his misery. I mean, they all do have to work together, and none of us want Andy to have another heart attack. Hope this conclusion is okay. Thanks for the reviews! They were appreciated. None of these characters are my own. They've been fun to write, though!**

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By mid-morning the next day, the team was actually wanting a good murder. They were bored. Provenza had done numerous crosswords since he'd spent the previous day with Andy at the hospital. All the normal paperwork was done, so Provenza had told the team to dig up one of the cold cases to go back over.

"Nolan, there are some files over there next to Flynn's desk-get them," Provenza explained, and Wes nodded as he went to retrieve the files. As he did, he noticed a small photo leaned up against the corner of the lieutenant's desk, one with the lieutenant in a tux standing with the captain next to him. It looked like some sort of formal picture, maybe even a wedding, but it also looked to be an older picture. The captain's hair looked different in the picture, longer. Strange, but this team was close, and he also knew there were often events and galas to attend. Plus, he knew that the captain was close to the lieutenant; she had been on a rotation with Lieutenant Provenza to take care of him. Really, it should be a surprise seeing them in a photo together, but he didn't like it.

"Nolan, are you going to bring the box over, or do you need a moment?" Provenza said sarcastically.

"Sorry, lieutenant," he nodded, turning with the box and heading back over to the rest of the team.

Later in the day, Provenza broke the silence; they were all working on the cold case, sorting through things, 'Ahh, looks like the desk monkey is being released," he gave a soft smile. "About time."

All eyes looked up, everyone smiling, "That's good news," Julio smiled. "Glad the lieutenant is doing better."

"We can expect that when Andy returns to work, he'll be back on desk duty again," Tao said. "Now, that might be a long-term thing, just so we all know."

"The desk monkey returns," Provenza sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Desk monkey?" Wes inquired.

Amy turned to him, "Yes, he was injured pretty badly last year. He was thrown from a moving car as he was trying to chase down a suspect. From that, he suffered a concussion, broken ribs, and then he had a secondary issue. He developed a blood clot in his carotid artery, which was pretty serious. After he fell, he had to have surgery for it, and then, he had some physical therapy. It was an ordeal for a long time, and then when he came back to work, he became the lieutenant's resident desk monkey," she enunciated, turning back to Provenza.

"Oh wow!" Wes said, very surprised. "Man, the lieutenant has had a rough road the last couple years then."

"It's really just been even the last year all that has gone on," Buzz explained. "You keep saying you notice we are close-well, we've all been through a lot, some more than others obviously, but still."

Wes nodded, as he looked around, "So, when the lieutenant comes back-"

"He'll be chained to that desk, here as the captain's desk monkey again," Julio grinned. "Sorry, I should really say as the lieutenant's desk monkey," he turned to Provenza.

"Okay, everyone, here's a text from Rusty," Provenza, ignoring Julio, held up his hand for everyone to stop and listen.

"At home now, he's irritated and slightly depressed. Maybe you could swing by after work?" Provenza read from Rusty.

Provenza looked to the room, "Okay everyone, I think we can all handle this. Look, let's not overwhelm him and stay forever, but maybe we can all stop by the condo on the way home. I think we owe it to them."

The team nodded, and they agreed. As they got back to work, Wes grinned, thinking that now the lieutenant was out of the woods, things would start to get back to normal at work, and the captain would be back too. He couldn't wait to see her; he missed her presence in the office, maybe more than he realized.

As Wes pulled up to the lieutenant's building, he looked at the surroundings, nodding. This was a nice place, nice part of town. He was impressed the lieutenant lived here. Looking up at the building, he started to panic, realizing that he didn't know the address. He hoped he had kept up with the team to follow them to the building; it looked like a pretty decent sized building, and he didn't want to try and find the place on his own. Plus, he knew how directories worked and often, they weren't up to date. Normally, the team might drive places together, but since it was the end of the day, they'd all driven their own cars. He caught sight of Julio going into the building and jogged to catch up with him. He found the rest of the team waiting in the lobby.

"Now, don't overwhelm the idiot," Provenza explained. "Just a few minutes. He's irritated, so let him see all of us and get even more irritated at our arrival," Provenza offered a slight grin, "and, then we will leave."

"He'll only be irritated to see you, lieutenant. The rest of us," Julio smiled, "well, he'll be glad to see."

"Let's go," Provenza waved as they all managed to get into the same elevator. Wes noticed they were going to the top floor, 11, and he nodded, a bit impressed. He had to bet the lieutenant had a decent view of the city.

"Hey guys," Rusty offered a small smile as he opened the door to the condo. "Come on in," he gestured. Provenza had sent Rusty a text telling him they were stopping by, so that wasn't a surprise. The team entered, all smiling, looking forward to talking to Andy. Wes caught sight of him seated on a couch. Upon quick glance, the condo was decorated nicely, odd furnishings for the lieutenant, in his opinion, but it was nice. It did have an amazing view as he suspected, with windows overlooking everything.

"Hey everyone," Andy smiled and started to stand, but Provenza waved his hand at him. "Don't get up. Geez, we don't want to be in trouble with your Flynn sitter here," he nodded to Rusty. "Where's the captain?"

"She went out to get all his meds," Rusty jumped in, causing Andy to roll his eyes. "She should be back any minute."

"Rusty, I'm capable of talking, you know," Andy sighed as he rolled his eyes again. The team chuckled as they moved into the living room and got situated. "Thanks for stopping by everyone. Have a seat. Nolan, welcome. I guess you've never been here."

"No, I haven't, lieutenant. Nice view," he offered a nod to the city.

"Yeah, it is. Not so bad being here at all," he nodded.

"What did the doctor say, lieutenant?" Julio asked, as he perched himself on one of the orange chairs. Provenza had flopped on the other end of the couch. Amy was in one of the chairs, and the rest of the team was standing.

Andy sighed, "I'm home for a couple weeks, and if things look okay, I can go back to desk duty," he rolled his eyes. "Guys, I'm going to go nuts here. Please, please send some cases my way."

"I don't think Sharon would like that," Rusty grinned.

Andy glared at Rusty, "Then don't tell her," he said through his teeth, causing the team to laugh.

"Sir, the last time you were home here like this, we did send you all the dvds for that stupid reality show," Julio grinned. "Remember that Buzz?"

"Oh, I remember it. I was the delivery guy on that," he chuckled.

"See, something like that-send me some work-" he started to say, but was cut off by Sharon entering. Wes and the rest of the team looked up to see her. She was a vision.

She was a bit startled; it didn't look like she expected everyone, "Oh, well, this is a surprise," she gave a small smile to everyone. "I guess we don't have a current case?"

"Captain, no, we don't. We worked a cold case most of the day, and then we decided to check on the resident desk monkey again," Provenza explained. Sharon put her stuff down, moving over to the group. Wes couldn't help but grin at the sight of her. She looked really nice in her casual clothing, jeans, a sweater, and ankle black boots. He couldn't believe she was as old enough to be his mother; she certainly had a young vibe to her, a look he really liked.

"Well, I'm glad for once, we've had a quiet few days at work," she shook her head. "We needed that. Andy, do you need anything?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Sharon," he waved to her, and Wes picked up on that. He hadn't heard anyone, but Rusty, call her Sharon. Thinking back, he was sure now that he'd heard the lieutenant call her that during the case too. He'd have to figure that out.

"Can I get any of you anything to drink?" she asked, looking around. She was met with everyone shaking their heads.

Wes glanced around as the team all started talking. It was an odd décor for the lieutenant, and it was then he noticed that same photo he'd seen at work here on the desk by where he was standing, this one framed. The lieutenant again standing with the captain in the tux at s formal event. Maybe they were pretty good friends, which would explain his calling her Sharon here off duty. It would be weird to call rank constantly if you were friends.

"Are you sure I can't offer any drinks?" Wes heard and looked up to see the captain asking again.

He perked up, "No thanks, Captain."

"Oh, just sit down. You know you are in your pacing mode," Provenza waved at her. Wes laughed. The two lieutenants seemed to have her number. She threw a smirk at him, and then she went and sat on the armrest of the couch next to the lieutenant.

Wes almost choked when he saw the lieutenant put his arm around her waist from his seat on the couch, and further, he about lost it when he watched the captain smile at him as she put her arm on his shoulder. Furthermore, no one else seemed out of sorts. This, this he hadn't picked up on at all. Did she like the guy? Apparently so, and he seemed to like her.

"Mom?" he heard and turned his head quickly to see who 'Mom' was and where that was coming from. He widened his eyes in surprise, as he saw Rusty talking to Sharon.

"Listen, Mom, if you two are okay here, I'm going to head out. Do you need anything right now?" Rusty asked.

Sharon and Andy both shook their heads at Rusty, "Rusty, we are fine. Everyone is here. Thank you. Go, see Gus. I know you've been worried about this for days. You are off the hook. We'll be fine."

Rusty turned to Andy, "You sure, too?" he asked.

Andy nodded, "I think we'll manage," he said with a roll of the eyes. The team laughed.

"Bye everyone," he waved.

"Rusty, be safe," Sharon called after him.

"Yes, Mom," he smirked and left.

"Wait," Wes put his hand up, trying to figure this all out. He was totally confused, and it was time to get to the bottom of this, "Wait, so Rusty's your son?" he pointed to Sharon, as Rusty left the condo.

"Yes," she smiled. "He's the youngest."

"Wait, I thought he was yours, lieutenant?" Wes asked, visibly confused.

"Ahh, someone needs his family tree lesson," Provenza shook his head.

"Huh?" Wes asked.

Julio stepped in, "Rusty is the captain's adopted son. We've all known him for what, over five years now?" to which he was met with nods. "It's complicated, but he came to all of us in the Murder Room as a homeless teen, a witness in a murder investigation."

"Okay," Wes said slowly, still trying to figure out the connection.

"I guess I have to claim him," Andy let out a chuckle.

Sharon softly smacked at his arm, "Hush, he loves you, even if he doesn't want to admit it, and I think I can safely say the feeling is mutual."

Wes was still looking at everyone, trying to figure it out, and Julio picked up on his confusion, as Wes asked again, "Yeah, sorry, I thought he was the lieutenant's kid?"

He noticed the lieutenant and captain both smile, as Andy said, "I'll claim Rusty," as Wes noticed he smiled at the captain. "We've come a long way."

Julio, who had been watching Wes' expression said, "Wait, you did know this is their condo, right?" Julio asked him, pointing to Andy and Sharon, still sitting next to each other on the couch.

Wes' face must have given away his shock, and the team started to chuckle. Julio continued, "I will take that as a 'no' you weren't aware," he smiled.

Provenza looked up at Wes horrified, "You didn't know," he gestured to them.

Wes looked to the captain, the beautiful captain, the woman he's been thinking about for awhile now, really since he'd started to work with her. She was smiling, her arm loosely placed on the lieutenant's shoulder, and his eyes met hers, and she smiled back at him, "To be fair, we do try to keep our personal life out of the office. I guess Wes' not knowing shows we are doing a decent job," she smiled down at the lieutenant now, he noted.

Wes tried to regroup and not look completely defeated, "Ahh, no, I didn't" he admitted, running a hand through his head. "Wow, I feel so stupid now," he shook his head. "That case, my head-it was somewhere else, and I just totally missed it. Then, the lieutenant collapsed, uh, wow, I'm sorry, Captain. I thought you were just a good boss, caring and kind. You at the hospital with the kids, I guess," he looked to the group who was nodding in confirmation at the kid comment, "wow, I didn't put it together. So, those were your kids, and man, you must have been a mess. I missed it-man, just thought you were that good of a boss."

"Well, she is a great boss," Andy smirked, looking up at Sharon and then yelling out, "Ouch!" when Sharon lightly smacked at his arm. "She is kind and caring too." The rest of the team chuckled.

Sharon rolled her eyes, looking to Wes again, "I'm sorry. I guess we should have told you. I'm surprised the team didn't," she looked to all of them with questionable glances.

"To be fair, Ma'am, you two-old news now," Julio grinned. "I guess we didn't think about or assumed that you being all concerned about the lieutenant's heart attack was enough of an explanation."

Wes stood there, shell-shocked as he started to look around the condo, "So, this is all your stuff?" he asked, looking to the apparent couple. It was then that he noticed more pictures around the place, most of them with yes, both the lieutenant and the captain, and a few with the kids he assumed.

"Well, mostly Sharon's stuff," he noted the lieutenant nodded. "She's got the eye for decorating, but yeah, this is our place."

"And Rusty lives here with us," Sharon added. "Our other kids are grown," she nodded.

"The other two, right?" Wes asked.

"Umm, actually, there are five kids in total," he shrugged, and seeing Wes' confused look, "Rusty, then we each have a girl and a boy too."

"Every now and then a Raydor or Flynn kid pops into the Murder Room," Julio grinned looking at the couple, and they just shrugged.

"In fact, that's how we ever got any info on these two," Buzz nodded. "The kids tell us everything."

"Oh, can we please not do this again? My heart can't take it," Andy joked.

Wes looked confused again, and Provenza finally spoke up, "I won't even comment right now on your terrible detective skills if you didn't see that," he gestured at the couple. "Let's just say this whole thing-we've had to watch in slow motion, over the years, and well," he gestured at them again, "there you have it."

"Wow, I'm really embarrassed I didn't catch it. I'm sorry to you both," Wes said.

"Wes, it's no problem, but yes, Andy and I are together," he noticed she winked at the lieutenant as she said that.

"For years," Amy jumped in. "Years."

Wes excused himself to the bathroom a short time later to regroup, noting as he walked by what must be their bedroom. He shook his head, as he looked into the bathroom mirror. He felt like he'd been punched in the face. He looked around the bathroom, noting all THEIR stuff. How did he miss all the signs?

Wow, the captain did have someone in her life, a fellow detective nonetheless. Here, he'd spent days thinking about her, planning how to ask her out, and just wanting to get to know everything about her. Turns out someone else had beaten him to it, by years, it sounded. He took a deep breath; it wasn't going to be easy to get over his interest of her, but he had to do it. They still all had to work together.

When he returned to the living room, he saw the team, now his team, smiling and laughing. He saw the lieutenant with his hand on the captain's back, and he saw her looking at him with a look he now could finally identify-love. She loved him, and he was not going to get in the middle of that. He was stupid to think someone like her would even notice him; the lieutenant was one lucky guy.

"I'm going to get going," he told the group. "I've got apartments to look at this evening."

"Yeah, I'm going to head out too," Amy stood. "Glad to see you on the mend, lieutenant," she nodded to him. Several others stood, ready to leave too, and Wes noticed as they were all heading out, only the captain, and the two lieutenants were left.

"Lieutenant, I'm glad you are going to recover," Wes called out to him before he left. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," he said looking to both the captain and lieutenant. They had both stood and were facing the group. Before he walked out, he noticed the two had their hands intertwined, standing together, and he smiled. It was hard not to want her for himself, but he decided that anyone the captain would like that much had to be a good guy, and he made a note to get to know the lieutenant better when he returned to work.

As Wes left, he couldn't have known that while clueless himself, the three higher ranking officers sat in that condo, discussing him.

"Andy, I think you were right," Sharon covered her face. "I think he was interested in me. Did you see how he was looking at us, as if he was horrified at the idea we were together at the same time horrified at himself?"

Andy looked to Provenza and both guys nodded, "Told you," Andy said. "No guy just brings you flowers or dinner without something in mind. I know," he grinned. "I have a lot of experience pursuing a police captain," he winked to her.

"Captain, there was something about him at work. He almost had Flynn's puppy dog face down. Now, I'm glad that's all out there; hopefully, we'll get back to normal, well as normal as can be when desk monkey here returns. At least it appears to be a short-lived crush," Provenza shrugged.

"I'm just glad I don't have to beat up the guy," Andy nodded to Sharon. She started to chuckle.

"Really?" she asked.

Andy shrugged, "Yes, why is that hard to believe?"

"You'll go beat up a fellow officer of the law, with whom we now work, because you think he's got a crush on me? What, are you trying to stake your claim?" she grinned at him.

"Hey," he held up a hand, "whatever I have to do. You are hot. I believe you tried to convince me I was dead wrong about him, but hey, I told you-guy liked what he saw," he grinned.

"Oh, do I have to hear this? Honestly, Flynn, this wouldn't be going on at all if you hadn't had the heart attack. Anything Nolan was thinking would have been short lived, because despite you two thinking you do such a great job of keeping your private life out of the Murder Room, you don't. It's not as bad as it was, but we all know. Flynn, I'm chalking up the reason to him not knowing is you and the heart attack. So, get back to work ASAP."

Andy smiled at Provenza, "You miss me, admit it. With you, at least I don't have to worry about some crush developing. I will ask that you keep an eye on things and keep my girl safe."

"Your girl?" Sharon said irritated.

"Yes," Andy grinned. "I'll tell Nolan that too if you want to call him back here."

"Well, he was charming," Sharon shrugged as her voice trailed off.

Andy waved her off, "He had his moment; you still came home to me."

Downstairs as Wes walked to his car, he thought back through the past few days, trying to see how he'd missed it. Yup, he had done terrible detective work, but thankfully he hadn't done or said anything inappropriate. Now, the moment was over, and it was time for him to start focusing on the life in front of him. The right woman had to be out there for him somewhere; she just wasn't sitting in the Murder Room.


End file.
